Every year the holiday shopping frenzy seems to harken earlier than the one before. By December it begins. Then November. Then October. Then …

Men in red suits and fake white beards hang outside the doors of shopping stores, clinking and clanking, asking for some spare change. Inside, bells chime and choirs soar from all corners. Fa-la-la-la-la. Crowds grow larger, unwieldy. Your shopping cart is bumped by another. A stranger’s child is coughing on your arm. Stress starts its slow crawl up your spine.

And yet … there’s a joy, a feeling of love and peace and goodwill that sleeps somewhere below the surface, peeking out in random moments. The smile of a stranger, the kind words of a close friend, the memories shared with a sister. You think of the love of a boy, a girl, a pet — the warmth they’ve brought your life. Your heart grows three sizes and then three more. In these moments you want the world on your doorstep, neatly wrapped, to give to those who’ve given so much to you.